


Perfect Sphere

by syrupwit



Category: Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Non-Graphic Violence, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 16:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12279819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syrupwit/pseuds/syrupwit
Summary: Accidental preteen acquisition.





	Perfect Sphere

Brennenburg is no place for a child, let alone a newly orphaned one. This fact seems to have escaped the relatives who deposited the young Mlle Florbelle in Bremen with instructions to transport her into Daniel's custody. Though perhaps they knew and simply didn't care. It's odd, to suddenly be appointed custodian of a stranger's child. Daniel had written to M. Florbelle, but none of his letters were answered. It's likely that Herbert had originally been her intended guardian. He never spoke of her... It's odd, all around. It's very odd.

Brennenburg is no place for Justine, but there she is. They air out a guest room and set her trunk in the corner. Over time, the room fills with her things. Candles crowd the desks. Clothes are thrown on the floor and then, at direction, sullenly hung up. A gramophone is lugged inside and removed one day later. New books trickle in alongside the few volumes Daniel had initially placed, until the the shelves are cramped and overflowing.

Youth, sex, and an appreciation for the written word are the only qualities Justine shares with Hazel. Nevertheless, Daniel feels an instinctual protectiveness towards her, a protectiveness that she tries her best to thwart. She is moody, disobedient, by turns charming and contemptuous. Her crueler side comes out among those she perceives as naturally lesser. Daniel has seen her taunt the servants, and on occasion the few townspeople who dare to approach the castle. His reproofs serve only to egg her on. Alexander seems not to notice, though Daniel later learns that's by design. "She's looking for my attention. If she can't find it this way, she'll look elsewhere." And, indeed, when Alexander responds to her latest provocation without even a raised eyebrow, the wind seems to go out of her sails.

She worships Alexander. Understandable; the child must miss her father, and Daniel can admit to experiencing similar emotions when he first met Alexander. Daniel is given to understand that she had a younger brother as well. Had, or has -- it's uncertain. From the way she describes him the few times she mentions him, coupled with the way she treats Daniel, he's beginning to suspect that she sees them similarly. The childish irritation it inspires in him is almost a cause for endearment. 

At least Justine's intelligence is in no way lacking. She has an especial gift for language. The child is approaching fluency in three languages so far, not counting Latin, and of late it has amused Alexander to teach her Greek. She shows interest, also, in the more unusual mechanical features of the castle. During one of her more charming moods, Daniel finds himself promising to show her the ascending room. The genuine excitement on her face makes him recall his own, before he knew where the "elevator" led.

It's lucky, or maybe not, that Justine arrived after they had already begun their work. Her presence is a distraction during the day, a worry and a conscience check at night. Justine must not find the laudanum. Justine must be protected from the Shadow. Justine must never discover what is going on. _This is for her_ , he finds himself thinking, as he cuts the painted lines on yet another man.

Inevitably, something goes wrong. 

It happens at night. Alexander is down the hall; Daniel is left alone with a prisoner. The prisoner, large and until now silent, has somehow gotten hold of a knife. He attacks Daniel, lunging straight for his throat. He slashes Daniel's shoulder, grazes his face. Daniel manages to wrest away the knife, but the prisoner pins him to the ground. The weapon ends up flung to the side as the prisoner straddles him. 

The prisoner's hands tighten around Daniel's neck. His hot, foul breath wafts in Daniel's face, and sweat drips from his rage-twisted brow. For a moment Daniel is breathless, powerless, unable to act. Then an answering rage fills him ( _why me? why now?_ ) and he tenses his limbs --

The man shouts, then goes slack and collapses on top of him.

Gasping for breath, Daniel scurries out from under him. Words of thanks are on his lips, but all the air leaves his lungs again as he regards his rescuer. 

"Justine!" That's Alexander, arriving. Reproachful. 

"I stopped him," she says. "Look, didn't I do well?" Her smile stays broad, but her anxious eyes track Alexander as he kneels beside the prone and bleeding prisoner.

"You may have killed this man," says Alexander, gently turning him over. His lips narrow to a thinner line. 

"What are you doing here? Why did you leave your room? Did you follow me?" Daniel asks, and Justine breaks out in peals of scornful laughter. 

"I've been following you for days!" she exclaims, flush with her own cleverness. "I know what you've been doing. You are very bad men, no?"

"Justine," says Daniel helplessly. Alexander has summoned a servant to drag the prisoner away. He comes up to Daniel and Justine, pausing to place a hand on both of their shoulders.

Alexander says, "I believe it's time we all had a talk." 

Daniel follows Alexander's gaze to the object still clutched in Justine's hand: a soapstone carved in the shape of a star, faintly dark with blood.

**Author's Note:**

> Little to no effort was made to ensure historical accuracy in this short fic. However, I am acutely aware of every deviation from the games' timeline, and sorry about all of them.
> 
> Poor Justine.


End file.
